Portable dressing tray



United States aren t O PORTABLE DRESSING TRAY Charles L. Hoffman,Sunderland, Mass.

Application November 25, 1953, Serial No. 394,329

1 Claim. (Cl. -93) This invention relates to dressing trays for infantsand has for its principal objects to provide a portable support whichmay be used in conjunction with a crib so as to avoid need for a spacetaking dressing table or bathinette-type support, which in contrast tothe dressing table or bathinette-type support is inexpensive, and can beeasily stored away when not in use, which can be applied to any crib ofconventional dimensions, which requires no fastening means, which willsupport the infant at a convenient height and comfortably without dangerof injury to it by contact with unyielding parts thereof, which willcradle the infant so that it cannot easily roll off and which may bereadily cleaned without restort to dismantling.

in accordance with the foregoing, the tray comprises a rigid frame ofsubstantially rectangular shape carrying a longitudinally concavehammock composed of flexible sheet material which is fastened at itsedges to the frame. The frame has side and end rails, the top edges ofwhich form the support for the edges of a hammock. The end rails are ofgreater vertical depth than the side rails so that the frame has bearingsurfaces at its sides for engagement with the top edges of the cribrails and bearing surfaces at its ends for engagement with the sideedges of the crib rails. The vertical depth of the hammock at its placeof greatest convexity is less than the vertical thickness of the siderails through their bearing surfaces. The tray is designed to resthorizontally across the top rails of the sides of a conventional criband when thus used, the bearing surfaces of the side rails rest on theupper edges of the rails of the crib supporting the hammock clear of thecrib rails. The end rails retain the tray in place and to this end theirinner sides have a spacing corresponding to the distance between theouter sides of the crib rails so that the end rails of the tray embracethe crib rails. Alternatively, the tray may be used on a table top orother plain surf-ace and when thus used it rests on the lower edges ofthe end rails which are stepped below the lower edges of the side rails.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary isometric view of the upper portion of a crib atone end showing the dressing tray resting in a horizontal positiontransversely of the top rails at the sides of a crib;

Fig. 2 is an isometric view of the dressing tray with a portion of thehammock broken away to show the frame construction;

Fig. 3 is a section longitudinally of the tray and transversely of thecrib taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 4 is a section transversely of the tray and longitudinally of thecrib taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, in Fig. 1, there is illustrated part of aconventional crib 10, having an end 12 and sides 14, the dressing tray16 being placed in a horizontal position transversely of the crib sothat it rests on the upper rails of the crib sides 14. The dressing trayis substantially rectangular in shape and carries a flexible 2,842,781Ice Patented July 15, 1958 longitudinally concave hammock 18. The frameof the tray (Fig. 2) is comprised of spaced parallel side and end rails20 and 22, joined, for example, by forming notches in the end rails andsetting the ends of the side rails into the notches where they may bemade fast by suitable fastening means. While the frame as hereinillustrated is comprised of wood and the side rails are connected to theend rails by setting them into notches, it is not in- 0 tended that thisshall be limiting since any suitable rigid material may be employed formaking the frame and the latter may be fabricated from several partsfastened togcther or made in one piece.

The hammock '18 is comprised of flexible sheet material, preferablyhaving an impervious water-proof upper face which may be kept clean bywiping with a damp cloth. One suitable material is a fabric faced on oneside with imitation leather which is substantially waterproof andprovides an attractive appearance. Any commercially available durablewater-proof sheet material may be used, such as rubberized orplasticized fabric. While ordinary white duck may be used it has thedisadvantage that it absorbs water and soils easily and hence would haveto be detached from the frame and laundered. The sheeting of whateverkind used is stretched across the frame and its sides 28 are folded overthe outer edges of the side rails 20 beneath them and against the inneredges where they are stapled or otherwise fastened to the rails. Theends 30 of the sheeting are folded over the end rails 22 and fastened totheir outer sides by tacks, staples or the like. In order to make thesheet material take the form of a hammock, that is to have a pronouncedconcavity longitudinally, the upper edges of the end rails 22 are madeconcave as illustrated at 32 (Fig. 2), this concavity extendinglengthwise of the end rails and in fastening the hammock sheet to theframe the portion between the sides at the ends is stretched and drawndown so as to have continuous contact with these concave edges 32.

Blocks 34 are fastened to the side rails 20 at the underside of theframe near the junction of the side rails with the end rails and theunder edges or surfaces of the blocks 34 provide bearing supports 36 forengagement with the top edges of the rails of the crib sides 14.Alternatively, the side rails may be formed with integral thickened endsor shoulders in place of the attached blocks. The vertical depth of theconcave hammock at its midpoint, which is its greatest depth, is lessthan the vertical thickness of the side rails from their top surfacesthrough the bearing surfaces 36 so that when the tray is placed acrossthe crib with the bearing surfaces of the blocks 36 resting on therails, the hammock is held out of engagement with the rails thuspreventing any possible contact of the childs head with the crib rails.

The vertical thickness of the end rails 22 is greater than the verticalthickness of the side rails through their hearing blocks 34. Thus, theinner faces 40 of the end rails extend below the blocks 34 forengagement with the side edges of the crib rails and hold the trayagainst lateral displacement. The spacing of the end rails correspondsto the distance between the outer surfaces of the crib rails.

The tray while primarily intended for disposition across the sides of acrib may also be used on a table T, for example, as shown in Fig. 4, orother plain surface in whichthe end rails have contact with the tabletop and form the support for the frame. Thus, the frame has pairs ofvertically stepped bearing surfaces constituted by the bearing surfaces36 of the blocks 34 and the bottom edges of the end rails.

The tray as thus described has distinct advantages over a dressing tableor combination bathinette and dressing table since it takes up verylittle room as compared to the former, it can be very easily mounted onthe crib or stored away as desired, it is of very light weight so thatit may be handled easily and requires no fastening means, it may be keptclean with a damp cloth and hence requires no laundering, it willsupport the child Without danger of the child rolling off the tray andit keeps the child out of contact with the rigid parts of the crib thusavoiding any injury thereto. 7

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purposeof illustration only and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim: A dressing tray comprising a rigid frame having side and endrails, said end rails containing notches, within which the ends of theside, rails fit so that the upper edges of'the end rails at their endslie in the plane of the upper edges of the side rails, and the centralportions of the end rails being downwardly concave, a hammock offlexible material stretched both longitudinally and transversely on theframe, said hammock having end portions folded over the end surfaces ofthe end rails and secured thereto, and edge surfaces folded over theside rails and secured thereto, said hammock having at opposite sideshorizontal flat aprons and intermediate the flat aprons a concave troughextending from end to 4 end, spaced bearing members at the underside ofthe frame adapted to support the frame horizontally, transversely of acrib on the upper rails of the crib sides, said bearing members having avertical thickness sufficient to prevent the concave surface of thehammock from contacting the crib rails, said end rails having at theirinner sides spaced parallel bearing surfaces, the inside spacing ofwhich corresponds to the outside spacing of the crib rails, andcomprising means for embracing said crib rails so as to prevent endwisedisplacement of the frame, and other bearing surfaces constituted by thelower edges of said end rails for supporting the frame on a fiatsurface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS150,398 Clonen May 5, 1874 1,008,080 Schwartzman Nov. 7, 1911 1,236,351Proctor Aug. 7, 1917 2,112,096 Holston Mar. 22, 1938 2,113,682 De PuyApr. 12, 1938 2,146,174 De Puy Feb. 7, 1939 2,493,401 Gunter Jan. 3,1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 596,738 France Aug. 14, 1925

